


Dinosaur Date

by cakelocked



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Dinosaurs, F/F, GAIA is a Dinosaur Nerd, Time Travelling Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21720538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakelocked/pseuds/cakelocked
Summary: An AU with GAIA and Elisabet as time travelling scientists featuring Aloy as their adopted daughter. Also, there are dinosaurs.
Relationships: Aloy & Elisabet Sobeck, Aloy & GAIA (Horizon: Zero Dawn), GAIA/Elisabet Sobeck
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29
Collections: HZD Secret Santa 2019





	Dinosaur Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [swampjello](https://archiveofourown.org/users/swampjello/gifts).



> My Secret Santa gift for swampjello! I hope you'll like it. <3 I know I had fun writing it. :D
> 
> This is my first time writing a complete AU. GAIA and Elisabet are part of an agency of time travellers.  
> Inspired by GAIA's (and my) love of dinosaurs. I just wanted her to see live ones!

The world around her rematerialized with a blinding flash of light as always and then the jump was complete. Elisabet stood with shaky legs and shook her head, disoriented despite the fact that the jump was nowhere near her first. Beside her, GAIA stood unflappable as always, her stance managing to be simultaneously guarded and relaxed. From the corner of her eye Elisabet could see her scanning their surroundings, her sensors no doubt finding hundred if not thousand times the information she could see with her human eyes.

Soon the feeling of the Earth rolling like turbulent sea beneath her feet started to fade, the after jitters of the jump gone. Elisabet straightened her back and breathed in, smelling the damp, green earth. She could practically taste the humidity surrounding them. The air around them felt as moist as it did warm.

“Your recovery was two minutes and 25 seconds faster than the last time,” commented GAIA then, her tone unreadable for anyone who didn’t know her well. Elisabet snorted, used to her partner’s sense of humour. It was a miracle in itself that she had one; she hadn’t been designed with humour in mind, only efficiency. Elisabet smiled; there was a lot GAIA hadn’t been designed for, and still she defied people’s expectations at every turn.

GAIA didn’t care what she was supposed to be. She was simply unique and even amongst the ultra-rare Horizon-class recon and safety androids, she was one of a kind. Elisabet’s mind went back to another, much newer addition to their department, a second gen ‘droid called Aloy. GAIA had taken the fledgling android under her wing right from the start, and the two had grown very close. GAIA’s involvement naturally meant that Elisabet was very much involved as well. There’d been gentle ribbing among her human colleagues that Aloy was her adopted child. Elisabet had just smiled back at them, not correcting them. _If anything, she’s mine and GAIA’s_.

Of course, that was something that she could not say out loud. Or she could but she might end up hitting someone if they had any unwelcome remarks. There were still some people who thought that droids were merely tools and were not shy about their opinions. They viewed the Horizon androids as sophisticated and sentient, but ultimately tools for humanity to use.

Elisabet, very emphatically, wasn’t one of those people and she had made it clear to GAIA as soon as she’d been assigned as her partner.

The android had just looked at her then, with her otherwise uncannily human-like face but for the lightest touch of metallic sheen on her dark skin, visible only in a specific kind of light, as well as the bright blue cables running from her neck down to her torso. That was something Elisabet had noticed first; that GAIA chose to show the cables instead of hiding them as she was able to do at will.

“Good to know,” was all she’d said then, turning to go.

The start of their relationship hadn’t been the smoothest. The fact that GAIA’s previous partner, Ted Faro had treated her like shit hadn’t helped their teamwork at all. Just thinking about the prick had Elisabet fuming. Their first time jump together had also been a total disaster, the coordinates and time period they arrived in totally wrong. Instead of doing some sweet recon work undercover they’d been dropped in the middle of a local strife between one clan and another.

Between dodging some primitive projectile weapons and running for their life, they’d started to bond though. Since then, they’d grown ever closer, each finding something in the other they’d looked for before. It also made the two of them the most successful jump team in the Agency’s history.

“Ha ha, GAIA. Did your scan find anything?”

“Negative. No large wildlife close-by.”

Elisabet checked her wrist computer for coordinates and time. “We’re right when we’re supposed to be, and the place matches our coordinates too. This site’s supposed to be as close to them as we can safely be. The previous team mapped a bit farther before their…”

“If you say ‘accident’ I’ll pick you up and jump us both out of here. They were eaten, Elisabet. _Eaten_.”

Elisabet rolled her eyes. “Fine. Before they got eaten.”

She turned to look at the droid hovering anxiously around her. “Look, relax. I’m not going to get eaten with you here to guard me. The other team were just trainees, and they had no guards with them.”

The droid mumbled something definitely not very complimentary about the IQ of the person who’d decided to send the previous team in with no guard, as well as something about dealing with the higher-ups but then calmed down a bit.

Elisabet smiled at her, touching her palm gently at her bicep. “Besides, I thought you were a huge fan of the wildlife around here.”

“In theory, maybe. If I were here alone. But with you here…” Elisabet felt warm and fuzzy at the concern directed at her and smiled.

“Hey, GAIA. It’ll be all right. I promise. We’ll complete the job in record time as always and then we’ll have some time to fool around before we have to jump back. You’ll love it. I’ll love it. C’mon.”

“Promise you’ll listen to my warnings and won’t wander off.” When Elisabet started to answer GAIA waved a finger at her. “No. I know you. _Promise me_.”

“Okay, fine. I promise to listen to the professional.”

After determining the answer sufficient GAIA turned to lead them on, following the downloaded map.

The walk wasn’t long but the high humidity and suffocating warmth made it feel longer. Elisabet swept away the sweat dripping from her brows and looked enviously at GAIA who was unaffected by the weather.

Eventually, they cleared the dense forest, bright sunlight almost blinding Elisabet. The world looked like a technicolour picture with the contrast amped to the max. Elisabet stopped and looked down the hill and into the valley. And then, there they were; even more magnificent than she had imagined.

“GAIA, look! There they are.”

The droid had stopped as well, her face full of wonder. Elisabet’s heart leaped at the sight almost as much as it had at seeing the dinosaurs roaming beneath them in the valley.

There wasn’t much that fazed GAIA. Elisabet knew that she felt much and deeply, but normally it was all hidden around others. Now though, with only the two of them and the dinosaurs, she could see it all reflected on her face.

A lone, startlingly deep call echoed from down in the valley, soon joined by others as a group of Brachiosauruses wandered in the forest. Elisabet could see a herd of Stegosauruses lumbering on, as well as other dinosaurs of the non-meat-eating variety. A bright stream streaked through the valley and the riverside was crowded. A brief commotion broke out as a huge crocodile-like creature caught one of the careless drinkers between its jaws.

Elisabet looked at the dinosaurs and then she looked at GAIA, her heart full of emotion. Every bit of grovelling, scheming and even one instance of outright blackmail was worth this, she knew. GAIA didn’t need to know that she’d traded a whole lot of favours to get them assigned to this particular jump. After all, Elisabet had done it all for her.

They stood there for a while longer, admiring the view. GAIA had started recording data the moment they sighted the dinosaurs, and Elisabet followed suit. Soon, they had to continue on as the mapping needed to be completed.

With GAIA’s capabilities it didn’t take much time at all, which Elisabet had counted on.

“Our work here is completed. Shall we jump back?”

GAIA’s voice was toneless to someone who didn’t know her well. Elisabet, however could tell that she was just as reluctant as she herself was to jump back to the dreary underground facility they called their headquarters. There was only so much that could be done to make what was essentially a bunker made of steel and concrete comfortable.

“Not so fast, GAIA. Come, I have something to show you.”

Elisabet led them on, barely consulting the map the previous survey team had managed to record before their untimely end. She’d been the one to go over the recovered data. Otherwise she’d never found this place.

GAIA didn’t ask questions but Elisabet could sense her curiosity.

“Here we are,” she said and stopped as they reached a different part of the hillside they’d stood on before. It was shaded by a large tree and had an even better view to the valley.

“I thought we could sit here for a while and you could tell me more about dinosaurs, you huge nerd,” she prompted affectionately.

GAIA looked at Elisabet, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “Are you suggesting that we play hooky, Doctor Sobeck?”

Elisabet sat down on the thick carpet of moss and tapped the ground beside her. “Not at all. This is just a bit of R&R we deserve after all the hard work we did today.”

GAIA smiled then: a small but sweet smile that was enough to take Elisabet’s breath away.

She sat down much more gracefully than Elisabet, leaning to her side. Then she pointed at the closest group of dinosaurs grazing down in the valley. “Those are called…”

Elisabet leaned her head to GAIA’s shoulder and listened. At some point their hands found each other, fingers intertwining as naturally as it was to breathe.

When the day started to turn to dusk, Elisabet squeezed GAIA’s hand.

“You do remember that today was our fifth anniversary, right?”

GAIA squeezed right back, humming. “I do have perfect memory, you know. So of course I remembered. And I have loved this day.”

Elisabet smiled and snuggled even closer for a minute before pressing a quick kiss to GAIA’s temple.

“C’mon. We should probably get back soon, before they send in the cavalry.”

“That would be Aloy,” GAIA nodded and stood up, lifting Elisabet as well with no effort at all.

After a final look to the valley and the various dinosaurs down there, they activated the time jump and in a few seconds, they were gone.

//

GAIA’s first memory was of being disconnected from the learning facility she’d been linked to. Her body might have been ready before but her mind had not been; not before extensive learning. Deemed ready, she’d been disconnected and sent away, assigned a partner and work.

Too bad the first human she had encountered had been ‘a real bag of dicks’, as Elisabet had later described him. GAIA took savage pleasure in thinking about his eventual downfall. The man had been as vile and cowardly as they came. What she could not understand was why Ted had taken the bet he’d been goaded into.

She shook her head, continuing to clean the jump kit from the pieces of debris and mud decorating it from her and Elisabet’s latest jump.

The fact was that he had accepted the bet, jumped without her, and hadn’t come back. Of course, she’d been sent after him with a recovery team, and they’d brought back what was left of him. After that she’d been free.

GAIA hadn’t had the highest opinion of humanity in general after that whole debacle. She’d been sidelined for a while before being assigned to Elisabet. GAIA had heard of her, before. It was hard not to, considering Dr. Sobeck was one of the most accomplished researchers they had. And now she had decided to try her luck in field work, which meant jumping to different places and eras.

Their first meeting had not gone well: GAIA had been too defensive and passive, whereas Elisabet had been too excited and not really known how to react to GAIA.

The ensuing disaster that was their first jump together had been a crash course in more ways than one. The moment GAIA had understood that the woman who was now her partner was someone she actually _wanted_ to protect had come at the worst possible moment.

_GAIA was almost shot but instead Elisabet had taken the hit for her, and after that the rest of their time jump had steadily worsened._ _In the end, they’d both made it out alive. Back in the Agency HQ she’d refused the medics and carried Elisabet to the medical wing herself. She might have also shouted at Elisabet when it became clear that she was going to make it._

_“’Tis just a scratch,” Elisabet had said, trying to downplay her injuries._

_The ensuing tirade of creative curse words had instantly become a legend in their department. When GAIA had calmed down and Elisabet had stopped laughing, after nearly tearing her stitches, they’d sat there in companionable silence._

“What’re you thinking about?” A question started GAIA out of her thoughts.

“Aloy. What have I said about creeping up on people?”

“Not to do it. And I didn’t. You weren’t listening to me, I tried to talk to you,” Aloy pouted and crossed her arms.

She didn’t have a permanent partner yet as Elisabet and GAIA had chosen to train her more before sending her out to the field with someone to care for. The downside of their decision was that she had way too much time to get into trouble, and be a general nuisance.

“I am listening now.”

“You’re thinking about Elisabet, aren’t you? Do you know what she has planned for your anniversary?”

Aloy’s blue eyes positively gleamed. While the android had a serious streak a mile long while on duty, off-duty she had a mischievous streak at least two miles long. At least that’s what it felt like to GAIA.

GAIA put away the last piece of the kit and closed it before stashing it to their locker.

“I have no idea. I haven’t tried to pry.” It was not that she wasn’t interested, but rather that she wanted whatever Elisabet was going to come up with to be a surprise.

Aloy sighed. “I bet it’s something sappy and romantic.”

GAIA shrugged. “We have work that day. So, no big gestures.”

“Boo. That’s so lame.”

GAIA hummed thoughtfully and closed the locker before turning to look at Aloy.

“Maybe you’ll understand some day. Are you up for some practice? I want to see how your archery is coming along.”

Aloy laughed, her eyes blazing with eagerness. “Oh. It’s coming along just fine. Just you see.”

Later, as they sat on the hillside together GAIA squeezed Elisabet’s hand and smiled as she squeezed it back. This was where she wanted to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, thanks to my awesome beta reader!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed reading it. I wish you happy new year & holidays!


End file.
